The most pathetic never-Trumper

Max Boot isn’t the most ridiculous never-Trumper. In my view, that distinction goes to Jennifer Rubin. However, for me Boot is the most pathetic member of the crew.

Why? Because the positions he takes are so knee-jerk and poorly argued. Consider this effort by Boot in a column for the Washington Post:

As for Kavanaugh’s confirmation: Conservatives are happy, because they are convinced that he will legislate their priorities (no abortion, no affirmative action, no Obamacare) from the bench. But the cost is much too high: After his partisan, evasive confirmation performance, Kavanaugh’s ascension delegitimizes the court.

But it’s the first sentence that’s most mindlessly pathetic. As Ramesh Ponnuru explains:

No knowledgeable conservative believes that the Supreme Court is going to strike down Obamacare as unconstitutional or prohibit abortion. Could Boot be using “no abortion” as shorthand for overruling Roe? If so, it is terribly misleading shorthand, since overruling Roe wouldn’t mean “no abortion.”

Boot’s shot at conservatives for wanting the Court to “legislate” on abortion also makes no sense: Letting legislatures set abortion policy, which is what most conservatives want from the Court, can’t plausibly be described as legislating.

Boot plainly believes his opposition to Trump gives him the moral high ground. Even if it did, it wouldn’t provide an excuse for arguing this sloppily.